Bocce keeps popping up around Reno at places like the new Renaissance Hotel and new apartment and housing complexes. The old sport has also apparently become highly popular in the Bay Area too, so maybe that's why it's shipping over here.

Most of the people I've talked to are a little intimidated by the new sport, but have no fear, it's pretty easy and can be played drunk or competitively (or competitively drunk).

Bocce is basically like a fancy version of horseshoes or corn hole with a curling and shuffleboard-shaped court. Also bowling...

How to play bocce

Well first, go to a bocce court. Bundox Bocce at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Reno does not require people to bring their own equipment. In fact, they ask that you leave professional gear at home. Other places have different rules, so call ahead.

Step 1: Grab a friend or a few. Any combination of two teams with one through four players each will work.

Step 2: Make sure you have all the basic gear on hand

Two sets of four balls

One small, shiny pallino ball, also called a pigeon, little bocce, bullet or jack

A ruler or tape measure

Some way to keep score

Beer or vintage Italian cocktails optional

Step 3: Toss a coin to decide which team will bowl the pallino down the court without it passing the last line. If that team passes the line twice, they forfeit the pallino throw to the other team.

Step 4: The same team bowls their first ball toward the pallino, with the goal of getting as close to it as possible.

Step 5: Turns are based on which team's balls are further away from the pallino. The disadvantaged team may take turns until all of their balls are used or they bowl one closer and the other team is disadvantaged.

Step 6: Make it to 12 points or another pre-determined number.

How to score in bocce

At the end of each turn, take a look at which team has balls closest to the pallino. We're going to use blue and red as examples here but colors differ.

Only one team can score, so if the red ball is the closest, it automatically excludes all of the blue team's efforts.

If multiple red balls are close to the pallino with no blue balls nearby, count up the points.

Blue balls can cancel out red balls if they are equidistant from the pallino, similar to the scoring in corn hole. So if one red ball is an inch from the pallino and a blue and red one are both 5 inches away, those two cancel each other out and red receives one point.

To challenge the distance between the pallino and balls, players can use a ruler or tape measure instead of eyeballing the distance. Even a half inch distance can mean the difference between two or zero points.

Some strategies worth trying:

Knock each others balls away from the pallino or off the court with an under or over hand throw

Knock the pallino away from a cluster of opponent's balls into a cluster of your own

Once you've become sufficiently addicted, it's time to go spend way too much money on your own gear. Then read the official rule guide and discover all of the other types of throws and penalties involved in tournament play where, I assume, beers are less common because everyone is too busy screaming about rules and measuring their balls.